Community Café

Community Café

Saturday, June 17, 2017

All are invited to participate in one Community Café. In each Café people will have an opportunity to hear stories from a panel of two to three people engaged in the ministry area and learn about ways to involve local communities. This will also be a time to share any feedback and to commit to engage with ministry on the margins.

Food Security: Stop Hunger – Facilitated by Rev. Cesar Duran
Hunger is one of the largest problems experienced by people all over the world. Many die daily because of a lack of food, and often times those who have access to food still don’t have enough to feed themselves and their families. Even here in the United States, this is a persistent issue. Nearly 1 in 6 people in America are struggling with hunger due to a lack of financial security. This all raises the question, “What are we doing as a Church to respond”? Come to this Community Café for a conversation with our panel of community leaders working with this issue inside and outside the church, and help us to redefine what we as the Rocky Mountain Conference can do to create a better future.

Hunger and Thirst: Sustainable Ways to Care for All of God's Creation – Facilitated by Laurie Day
Food and water sustainability is a concern throughout all of God's creation. Local community involvement is vital to ensuring all people have access to healthy sustainable food and clean water. Come to this Community Café to learn how The United Methodist Church is partnering with schools, community groups, and health facilities to improve access to clean water and sustainable nutritious food. We will also hear stories of how local churches are engaging their communities around water and food sustainability. Come learn practical and sustainable ways your local church and community can care for God's creation.

Water Is Life: Indigenous Rights and Resource Access – Facilitated by Andy MillmanBeginning with the European colonization of the Americas and leading all the way up until today, indigenous communities have consistently had their access to land and resources stripped away by those in power. This has come to a head recently with the Standing Rock Sioux and their allies protesting the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline on native treaty land and under the primary source of drinking water for people on the reservation, but the struggle is not new. Come to this Community Cafe and hear from a panel of indigenous neighbors and allies about ways that you can become involved in the struggle to protect indigenous resources.

Food Rescue: From Food Waste to Food Redistribution – Facilitated by Mike Moore
Enough food is thrown away or otherwise wasted each day in our communities to make significant progress towards addressing foods security. At this Community Café session, we will hear from Boulder Food Rescue about their creative and innovative approach to fighting hunger in their community. Boulder Food Rescue partners with grocery stores and other food donors to identify and gather food that would be composted or thrown away. Then, utilizing their flexible distribution model, Boulder Food Rescue delivers the food in what they call a “direct, just in time food rescue” to food pantries, day shelters and other housing sites that need and can use the food. The ideas and approaches that Boulder Food Rescue employs can serve as inspiration and guidance to you as you consider how to get involved in this ministry, engage your community and implement some of these concepts locally.